Bookkeeping device



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H ffm- OHHMM Q 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY 5% mm M A D A B BOOKKEEPING DEVICE Filed July 7, 1952 2,709,605 BUOKKEEPING DEVICE John B. Adams, Chicago, Ill. Application July 7, 1952, Serial No. 297,549 3 Claims. (Cl. 282-29) This invention relates to a bookkeeping device, and more particularly to a bookkeeping device which may be employed in carrying out a specialized bookkeeping method, and which is provided with a gang of retractable pegs so that the unit may serve as a peg board.

The bookkeeping method with which the device of this invention is employed is fully described in my Patent 2,523,803, and the device of this invention is a modification of the device shown in said patent.

In operations such as those of a department store, the sales of each department for each day are recorded on a record strip, and from these original entry strips the daily and monthly records of sales are prepared. It is convenient in checking the sales records at the end of the month to be able to take the daily strip for each day of operation and position it alongside the other daily strips for the month so that the totals for the various items on the strips may be cross added as a means of checking the correctness of the total entries in the account books for the month.

Since the daily strips also show the sales volume on various items sold by each department, this cross checking of the daily record strips permits close control and analysis of the rate at which various items in the department are moving. Daily sales trends and monthly sales trends may be readily graphed or otherwise compiled from the daily strips.

For convenience in handling the daily record strips peg boards have been employed so that holes in one end of the strips may be slipped over a line of pegs to hold the strips in shiugled side by side relationship with all the entries thereon simultaneously visible. Such peg boards are necessarily fairly large inasmuch as they ordinarily must have at least 27 pegs for the 27 daily strips and must be sufliciently wide to lay the strips fiat upon the board.

The bookkeeping device shown in my Patent 2,523,803 provides a board which is large enough for a peg board and has a transverse guide bar which is slidably mounted on a guide member so that it may be readily used in cross adding or performing a sales analysis using the daily entry slips.

The present invention, therefore, is directed'to a mech anism by which a bookkeeping device which is generally like that shown in my aforesaid patent is provided with a gang of retractable pegs so that it may serve either as a bookkeeping unit or as a peg board. The use of retractable pegs greatly simplifies the removal of a group of record strips from the board, because it is not necessary to lift the individual strips oif the pegs and then gather them for storage. The pegs may be dropped below the level of the board and the shingled strips assembled for storage by sliding them into superimposed relationship.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken as indicated along the line 33 of Fig. 2 with the gang of pegs in extended position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the gang of pegs in retracted position; a

Pig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an en larged scale viewing Fig. 1 from the left;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary rear elevational view on an States Patent r 2,709,605 Patented May 31, 1955 2 enlarged scale showing the guide member which extends along the side of the board; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken as indicated along the line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, a base plate, indicated generally at 9, has a base board which preferably has a sheet metal top 8 and a base element 8a made of Masonite, and is provided with metal binding strips 10, ll, 12 and 13 which extend around .its margin and have horizontal portions designated as l4, 15, 16 and 17, respectively, which are spaced beneath the base plate 9 to accommodate the ends of transverse structural ribs 13 and 19, between which extend longitudinal ribs 20.

Supporting feet 2i are located at the four corners of the base plate 9 and are secured to the horizontal portions of the binding strips. Inasmuch as the board is most conveniently used in a slanting position, the rear of the board is provided with a pair of retractable supports 22 which are pivoted in the rear structural rib l8 and the rear binding strip 13, and have handles 22a projecting rearwardly from the rear binding strip 13 by means of which the support members 22 may be readily moved from the upright supporting position shown in Figs. 2 and S to a collapsed position. The binding strips and the feet elevate the underside of the base plate 9 so as to provide a recess therebeneath which is bounded by the binding strips.

Along the left hand margin of the base plate 9 is a guide assembly which includes a pair of upstanding brackets 23 adjacent the rear and front margins of the base plate, said brackets having slots 24 to pivotally and slidably receive a guide member, indicated generally at 25. The guide member 25 includes a long narrow metal floor plate 27 which carries rear and front mounting blocks 28 and 29, respectively, between which blocks extends a rectangular mounting rail 30 which is spaced slightly above the floor plate 27. As best seen in Fig. 1 the ends 31 and 32 of the mounting rail 30 are round and extend through the slots 24 in the brackets 23, while the portion of the rail 30 between the mounting blocks is square. Spaced inwardly from the mounting rail 34) is a rectangular guide rail 33 which has its forward end positioned in a recess in the mounting block 29 and has its rear end projecting through a slot in the mounting block 28. The guide rail 33 is releasably held in position by a set screw 34 which is threaded into the mounting block 28 and bears upon the guide rail. When the set screw is loosened the guide rail 33 may be completely removed by withdrawing it through the opening in the mounting block 28. For convenience in handling the guide rail, it is provided with a handle 35. The guide member 25 may be elevated in the slots 24-, and may be pivoted so that it hangs outside the margin of the base plate 9 in an inverted position.

A cross arm 36 of thin metal is secured to a slide block 37 which is slidable on the floor plate 27 in a position between the mounting rail 30 and the guide rail 33. The slide block 37 has a flange 38 which fits into the space beneath the mounting rail 30, and the attachment between the slide block 37 and the cross arm 36 is by means of a thin plate which underlies the guide rail 33. The slide block 3'7 makes a snug sliding fit between the rectangular rails 30 and 33, so that the cross arm 36 may be moved forwardly and rearwardly on the base plate 9 by sliding the block 37 on the floor plate 27. An upright handle 39 on the slide block facilitates movement of the cross arm 36.

At the two ends of the cross arm 36 are brackets 40 and 41 which are apertured to receive a crossbar 42 which, as best seen in Fig. 6, is positioned abovefthe cross arm 36. The cross bar 42 is removably retained in the brackets 46 and 41 by means of cap nuts 43 and 44. i

1 that the eye of the operator will Turning now to. the retractable peg arrangement, extending across the sheet metal top 8 of the base plate 9 a short distance forward of its rear margin is a transversely extending line of apertures 45, beneath which a slot 45a is formed in the Masonite base element 8a. As best seen in Figs. 2 and 7, U-shaped mounting brackets 46 and 47 have flanges 46a and 47a between the metal top 8 and the base element 8a by which they are secured in the slot 45:; to carry a movable peg bar 43 which extends through the brackets 46 and 47 and is mounted on guide posts 49 and t} which prevent longitudinal shifting of the peg bar 48 in the brackets. As best seen in Figs. 3, 4 and 7 the peg bar 48 has an upright peg 51 aligned with each of the apertures in the base plate, said pegs having rounded tops. The peg bar may move up and down in the brackets 46 and 47 between the elevated position shown in Fig. 3 and the retracted position shown in Fig. 4, In Fig. 7 the peg bar is shown in full line in its elevated position and in broken lines in its retracted position. When retracted the peg bar is supported by the brackets 46, when extended it is positioned in the slot 45a of the Masonite base member 3a and is supported by a cam piece 52 which is part of a peg bar positioning mechanism.

The peg bar positioning mechanism includes an actuating arm 53 which is rotatably mounted in brackets 54 and 55 which are secured to the transverse structural ribs 18 and 19, respectively, and which has a transversely extending operating handle 56 adjacent the front binding strip 11. The cam piece 52 is secured to the peg bar actuating arm beneath the peg bar 48, and as seen in Fig. 3 it consists of an arcuate piece of fairly resilient thin metal stock having an attaching end 57 and a flat support portion 58. When the peg bar 4% is in its retracted position as seen in Pi g. 4 the cam piece 52 is completely free of the bar, which is supported by the brackets 46 and 4-7. To elevate the peg bar 58 and extend the pegs 51 through the apertures 45 the operating handle 56 is rotated counter-clockwise as seen in Fig. 4 (clockwise for an operator seated in front of the device) so that the cam piece 52 contacts the underside of the peg bar 43 and the arcuate surface of the cam piece elevates the peg bar which, when fully elevated, is supported by the fiat support portion 58 ot' the cam piece.

In using the device as a peg board, the pegs are placed in their extended positions projecting through the apertures 45; and the guide member and cross arm 46 are pivoted in the brackets 23 so that the cross arm extends to the left ofr the base plate 9. A series of daily record strips each of which has ten holes in its upper end is placed in shingled relationship on the pegs 51 with the strips lying on the base plate 9. The guide member may then be returned to the position shown in Fig. 1 with the cross arm overlying the daily record strip. When the device is being used in this manner, the paper carrier, indicated generally at as is ordinarily detached from the cross car 42, and in fact the cross arm 36 may be used without employing the cross bar 42 if desired. The cross arm 36 may be run down the columns of figures on the daily record strips and its straight upper margin assures not skip from line to line instudying the information on the strips. When the cross addition of figures on the daily strips or the sales analysis is completed, the guide assembly may be moved in the slots 24 to swing the cross arm 36 free of the record. strips, and the peg bar actuating handle as may be turned to releasethe peg bar for movement to its retracted position with the pegs positioned wholly beneath the board. The shingle-arranged daily record strips may then be readily slipped together into a single pile for storage.

If the device is to be used for bookkeeping purposes such as posting to ledger and journal accounts or for payroll purposes, the paper carrier 60 is mounted on the cross bar 42, and a paper positioning bar 61 having pins 62 is used to position a pile of bookkeeping sheets on the base plate 9. The pins 62 of the bar 61 may extend through spaced holes in the sheets of bookkeeping paper and into registered openings in the base plate 9.

The paper carrier 60 is mounted on the cross bar 42 by means of a pair of mounting brackets 63 and 64 which are apertured to receive the cross bar 42 and has a scoop-shaped body'65 having a transversely extending paper guide 66 at its lower end which is spaced above the body 65 a sufficient distance to form a carbon guide slot 66a, and a slot 67 at its upper end through which a strip of carbon paper may be fed from a carbon roll holder 68 in the rear of the paper carrier 60 to the slot 66a. A paper gripper includes a shaft 69 mounted on arms 70, and 71 which are pivoted on the brackets 63 and 64 so that the shaft 69 and its rollers 72 may be elevated to permit apiece of paper to be laid on the scoop-shaped carrier 65, after which the shaft and rollers may be lowered onto the paper to hold it in place. As seen in Fig. l, the carbon rollholder 68 is quite narrow in this particular form of carrier member, because for certain bookkeeping operations only one or two columns are reproduced in'carbon; but of course if more columns need to be reproduced in carbon the carbon roll holder 63 may extend all the way across the carrier member 60. The carrier 'memoertiti may he slid along the transverse rod 42 and the entire unit of carrier member and cross arm 36 may be moved up and down the base plate 9 by means of the slide block 37.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a bookkeeping device of the character described: a base plate having a recess therebeneath and a transverse line of spaced apertures adjacent its top margin; supporting means hung from said base plate adjacent said line of apertures; a long, narrow, transversely extending peg bar carried by said supporting means in a retracted position and having an upstanding peg beneath each aperture in the base plate, said peg bar being mounted for rectilinear movement to a raised position in which said pegs project through said apertures; a movable peg bar positioning arm supported by the base plate; and a broad, sheet metal cam member mounted on said arm adjacent the central portion of the peg bar, said cam member having a peg bar elevating portion adapted to move in face-abutting contact with the bottom of the peg bar to raise the peg bar as the arm is moved in one direction and a planar retaining portion to hold thepeg bar in raised position when the arm is at the limit of its movement in said one direction, and movement of the arm in the opposite direction permitting the peg bar to return to its retracted position.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the supporting means comprises a pair of transversely spaced brackets provided with upright guide, posts, and the peg bar is carried on the brackets in close sliding engagement with the guide posts.

3. The device of claim 1 in which the arm is rotatable and extends longitudinally beneath the base plate and the cam member is generally U-shaped with one leg of the U secured to the arm, the arcuate base of the U providing theelevating portion and the second leg of the U providing the retaining portion.

References Cited in the file of this'patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

